By Madeline Emerson
Our fourth day in Tuba City, Az. started out like usual—breakfast at Hogan Restaurant and heading down to the church to pack our sack lunches and meet up with our hosts, Vanessa and Chaunupa, plus our other friends Bryan and Fox. The only difference today was we were running on Arizona time instead of Tuba time. For clarification, the state of Arizona does not participate in daylight savings time, however, the Navajo Reservation does. Therefore, for six months out of the year, the Navajo reservation is an hour ahead of the rest of Arizona. It was an added bonus for us that we were on Arizona time today because that meant we got to sleep in for an extra hour!
Once our lunches were packed, we hit the road and headed towards the Grand Canyon! Our destination was about 56 miles away, but we broke it up by making a few stops along the way. Our first stop was the Little Colorado Gorge.
The Little Colorado Gorge is a part of the Grand Canyon that is located on the Navajo Reservation. We took pictures and did a tiny hike to an overlook, where Vanessa had us popcorn read an article about the Grand Canyon. The article informed us about three of the many tribes that live within the Grand Canyon— the Havasupai, the Hualapai and the Yavapai. The reading talked about the hazardous uranium that was once extracted from the land, and how it continues to affect the lives of the natives.
After doing our reading, we headed back up and stopped to look at some of the jewelry that was being sold. We have all found the jewelry and beadwork created by the Navajos to be stunning and fascinating, so we take every opportunity we get to look at it! After finishing our shopping, we loaded back into the van and headed towards the Grand Canyon entrance. All the girls, including Vanessa and Chaunupa road in the van, while the guys rode in the truck with Bryan and Fox.
We entered the Grand Canyon and, of course, had to take a group picture with the sign. It was about a 10-15 minute drive to the Desert View Watchtower. When we got to the tower, we took some time to take more pictures and observe the beautiful landscape. I think it is safe to say we were all in awe with the view.
We then headed to the top of the tower where the views were even better, and we were able to see some Native American markings, included on the walls.
Outside of the tower, we enjoyed our sack lunches with the most amazing view of the canyon.
Our afternoon activity consisted of a hike at the Bright Angel Trail. On our drive over to the trailhead, we saw a herd of Elk! We hiked down into the canyon with Fox, where we took in the breathtaking views and took more pictures
As a group, we had a lot of fun telling stories, bonding and making jokes with Vanessa and Chaunupa through the walkie talkies! We hiked down into the canyon for about 45 minutes, and then turned around to head back up. Some of us forgot that when you hike down into the canyon, you also have to hike back up! We all made it back up eventually, and Chaunupa treated us to some of the best ice cream to celebrate. We headed back to the vans and began our drive home, but first we had to stop for dinner.
On our way to dinner, we had some meaningful conversations with Vanessa and Chaunupa. Throughout this whole trip, they have shared their stories and experiences with us, and it has been fascinating to learn about their culture and lives. They both carry so much wisdom and a deep appreciation for Mother Earth that has positively affected all of us on this trip. The quality time we have spent with them as definitely been a highlight of our trip. We ate dinner at Cameron Trading Post. Some of us tried the traditional Navajo cuisine, while others enjoyed their chicken tenders! Once we finished dinner, we headed back to Tuba City, said goodnight to our friends Chaunupa, Vanessa, Bryan and Fox, and made our way back to the hotel. We had a jam-packed day and a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, so we need a good night sleep!
